HCF awards $362,063 in Applicant Defined Grants

KANSAS CITY, MO – The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF) has awarded nine nonprofit organizations a total of $362,063 in Applicant Defined Grants.

The following grants were awarded in August 2015:

Agency

Amount Awarded

Project Description

Cristo Rey Kansas City

$55,000

To support a school mental health counselor and a school nurse position, and provide health room equipment.

DeLaSalle Education Center

$35,000

To support staff and provide supplies necessary to produce positive changes in student and staff exercise and/or eating habits; increase health-related resources for teachers to use in developing lesson plans; and promote the use of fresh, healthy foods in the community

Heartland Outreach Providers, Inc.

$38,000

To support a field coordinator and vice president of operations that will coordinate oral health services for uninsured and under-insured clients at schools, nonprofit organizations, and nursing homes in Jackson County.

Lafayette County Health Department

$22,000

To support the oral health preventive services program Saving Smiles. The Saving Smiles program provides a place-based screening at the children’s school by a dental professional, oral health education for the students, fluoride varnish application two times per year, and care coordination to increase access for underserved and uninsured children to quality, affordable dental services. HCF funding will support LCHD’s staff time to coordinate the program and follow-up care, and will also allow LCHD to implement a public awareness campaign to educate the community on the importance of good oral health for good overall health.

Legal Aid of Western Missouri

$48,783

To empower Legal Aid to overcome legal obstacles that stand between homeless people and the public benefits — including health care — that they are eligible for.

LISC

$50,000

To provide staff support and project expenses to address state and local policy barriers, empower residents to be equipped to advocate for themselves and their communities, mobilize health and community development sectors currently operating in silos, and promote policy initiatives to specifically encourage and enable healthy urban lifestyles.

Mattie Rhodes Center

$54,000

To support the cost of a clinical supervisor, clinical training for therapists, and psychiatry services to better meet the critical need of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness.

NEWHOUSE, Inc.

$49,280

HCF Funding for Year Two of the Newhouse Substance Abuse Program will qualify Newhouse for COMBAT matching funds and provide a financial support base to continue growing the program in capacity and effectiveness. Funding will also position Newhouse to gain additional resources for ensuring sustainability.

Poetry for Personal Power

$10,000

To support a mental health-focused demonstration project to conduct engagement events in the KCMO urban core to promote resiliency and stigma reduction messaging.

HCF Applicant Defined Grants (ADG) are awarded outside of the Foundation’s annual Requests for Proposals. ADGs are reviewed and awarded monthly and allow organizations to define their own immediate grant needs in relation to the HCF mission. Organizations are allowed to apply for an ADG once per year and are capped at $75,000. In 2015, HCF will award a total of $4.1 million in ADGs.

“We are proud to support the work these organizations are doing to remove barriers to health care for the most vulnerable populations in our service area,” said Bridget McCandless, M.D., HCF President/CEO.

ABOUT HCFThe Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City provides leadership, advocacy and resources that eliminate barriers to quality health for the uninsured and underserved in Kansas City, Missouri, Cass, Jackson and Lafayette counties in Missouri and Allen, Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. Since it began grantmaking in 2005, HCF has awarded more than $200 million to agencies addressing health needs in the community.